John Stevens

July 1: With Stevens’ contract expiring with the Kings, the Stars have officially added him to their staff.

June 11: The Dallas Stars and head coach Jim Montgomery are making a major addition, and free agency hasn’t even started. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Dallas is set to hire former Los Angeles Kings and Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Stevens as an assistant on Montgomery’s staff. Stevens was considered one of the top available coaches this off-season and will be a major addition for the Stars.

It should not come as much of a surprise that Montgomery and Stevens are back together. As Friedman notes, the pair have a considerable shared history. Both Montgomery and Stevens played together on the AHL’s Philadelphia Phantoms in the late 90’s during what would be the final years of Stevens’ playing career due to a career-ending injury. Stevens would then become an assistant coach during Montgomery’s final year with the team. As Montgomery himself later transitioned into coaching, he led the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints as head coach and general manager for several years, during which time he would recruit and coach John Stevens Jr., who currently plays for the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Of course, the two friends also coached against each other early this past season as well, as Montgomery’s Stars defeated Stevens’ Kings 4-2 in late October in one of Stevens’ final games at the helm.

Stevens’ stint as the head coach in L.A. was arguably cut short too early. In his first full season of duty in 2017-18, the Kings went 45-29-8 and made the playoffs, before a disappointing sweep by the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round. The team then started last season off 4-8-1, after which Stevens was fired and replaced with Willie Desjardins, who himself has now been replaced by Todd McLellan. Stevens still maintained a winning record as head coach of the Kings and holds the same distinction as an NHL head coach overall, despite finishing just below .500 in aggregate over parts of four seasons as the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers from 2006 to 2010. Stevens has a strong grasp on defense and has often led teams that play a safe, conservative game, even if that doesn’t always lead to the offense needed to win games. Combined with Mongtomery’s eye for offense and the Stars’ substantial talent, Stevens has the chance to be a major difference-maker in Dallas and it is not a stretch to say he could be an NHL head coach again someday if things go well in this next stop.

The Anaheim Ducks still don’t have a head coach for the 2019-20 season, even as the NHL Entry Draft is now just a few weeks away. The combine is already underway, meaning whoever does take the reins of the team next season won’t get to be part of the prospect interview process. While that obviously isn’t a devastating problem, it is somewhat uncommon, as seen by the several other vacancies that have been filled in recent weeks.

In a column today by Eric Stephens of The Athletic (subscription required) the top candidates for the job are examined, with special emphasis put on San Diego Gulls coach Dallas Eakins, and why he hasn’t yet been given the job despite many around the league expecting it to go to him since Randy Carlyle was fired mid-season. Stephens lists New York Islanders assistant coach Lane Lambert, Manitoba Moose head coach Pascal Vincent and Dallas Stars assistant Todd Nelson as other candidates that have been mentioned recently.

Bob McKenzie of TSN has also heard Nelson’s name, and reports that he will be interviewed this week for the job. It wouldn’t be the first time that Nelson has taken a job once ticketed for Eakins, as he was the coach that eventually took over when Eakins was fired in Edmonton back in 2014. Also of interest is another tweet from McKenzie, who suggests that there may be a job for former Los Angeles Kings head coach John Stevens in Dallas on Jim Montgomery’s staff. If Nelson does leave, that would provide an option for the Stars to replace him with.

The Ducks are coming off a disappointing season in which they finished 35-37-10. The core that led them to so many playoff runs is getting older—to the point where speculation of a Corey Perrybuyout isn’t unreasonable—but there is help coming through the pipeline in the form of several top forward prospects. The job isn’t a full rebuild, but it also needs someone who can develop the next wave of talent quickly.

The Los Angeles Kings have informed interim coach Willie Desjardins that he will not be brought back. The team will look for a new head coach immediately. The Athletic’s Lisa Dillman also adds that the team is currently working on a coaching hire, but nothing is imminent.

“Today we thanked Willie Desjardins for his effort and dedication while serving as our interim head coach,” said Los Angeles Kings general Rob Blake, in a statement. “We wish Willie and his family nothing but the best going forward. The process for hiring our next head coach is underway and we look forward to conducting a thorough search for the right person to lead our team.”

Desjardins was brought in on Nov. 4 when the team fired head coach John Stevens after a miserable 4-8-1 start to the season. This came after the team reloaded their team with free agent Ilya Kovalchuk in hopes of challenging for another Pacific Division title. The team hired the veteran Desjardins as well as coaching hopeful Marco Sturm to stabilize the team in hopes the team could bounce back and compete. Instead, injuries and struggles from many of the team’s veterans led to the team struggling and the Kings ended up with a 31-42-9 overall record, good enough for the second-worst record in the NHL behind the Ottawa Senators.

Desjardins has put together an impressive resume, including plenty of international tournament and junior league success, but has also found himself in a number of tough NHL coaching positions over the years, including the aging Kings. He also coached a struggling Vancouver Canucks team for three seasons, compiling a 109-110-27 record.

Despite having a good chance to nab one of the top two prospects in the 2019 NHL draft in Jack Hughes or Kappo Kakko (depending on their lottery luck), the team is still heavily encumbered by multiple long-term deals of players over 30 and will likely have to deal with a overburdened salary cap for a number of years in the future, which could make it difficult to truly compete in the next couple of years.

With the trade deadline fast approaching, we will be taking a closer look at the situation for each team over the coming weeks. Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs? Next up is a look at the Los Angeles Kings.

It’s been a rough season for the Kings who had high hopes before the season started. The team had a very successful season a year ago as they had a 45-29-8 season and even though they were the fourth seed, many teams expected them to dominate in the playoffs. Unfortunately, while they played the Vegas Golden Knights well, the team was swept out of the playoffs as Vegas’ speed overwhelmed the slower-moving Kings. The team tried to re-stock in the offseason when the signed Ilya Kovalchuk to a three-year, $18.75MM deal to add even more offense.

Then everything fell apart when the season commenced as the team struggled out of the gate and by early November, the team fired head coach John Stevens and replaced him with interim coach Willie Desjardins. The team found itself at the bottom of the standings throughout the league and have already began to fix their team as the team has already moved out forward Tanner Pearson to Pittsburgh and more recently when it sent defenseman Jake Muzzin to Toronto for a first-rounder and a pair of prospects. With the deadline just weeks away and the Kings looking to rebuild their aging franchise, the team may be making a number of moves to upgrade their team.

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Trade Chips

The team has several trade options if they want to totally rebuild the franchise. The Kings already moved Muzzin, but with a group of young defensemen, including Sean Walker, Daniel Brickley and Kale Clague waiting for their chance, Los Angeles could move Alec Martinez for a similar return that they got for Muzzin. Martinez has been a solid top-four defenseman with the Kings for years and will be highly sought after, especially in a market where there are so many buyers.

It might be hard to believe, but the Kings may also be ready to move on from their superstar goaltender Jonathan Quick. However, the 33-year-old has struggled with both injuries and hasn’t had his usually impressive season as he has a 2.99 GAA and a disappointing .902 save percentage in 28 games. While starting goaltenders are rarely moved at the deadline as most playoff teams already have a starting goaltender, this is an unusual year as a team like the Columbus Blue Jackets could conceivably move the unhappy Sergei Bobrovsky and could conceivably be looking to add a replacement goaltender. The Kings have Jack Campbell and rookie Calvin Petersen, who could take over and start the rebuilding process in net if L.A. decides to go that route.

Ilya Kovalchuk has also come up as a potential trade chip for the Kings. The 35-year-old winger has struggled with injuries and production slumps, but the veteran winger has 11 goals this year and could score even more on productive playoff team. Whether a team is willing to take on his $6.25MM salary for another two years after this is a whole different question, considering he’ll be 37 years old in the final year of his contract. When the team acquired Carl Hagelin in the Pearson deal, the main purpose of the trade was to free themselves of Pearson’s two extra years on his contract. Hagelin, however, will be an unrestricted free agent and could easily be flipped at the deadline for a pick or prospect. Unfortunately, Hagelin only has two goals and eight points this season in 33 games, but still could provide a franchise with a quality middle-six rental for a low cost.

Team Needs

1) Youth: With numerous aging veterans already locked up for the next three to five years with no way to escape from those deals, what Los Angeles needs more than anything are young talent that they can build on. The team already picked up a pair of interesting prospects from Toronto in Carl Grundstrom and Sean Durzi, but the more young talent and picks they can acquire to expedite the team’s rebuild the better.

2) Forwards: The team needs more offense. While they have a number of interesting defensive prospects, there are only a handful of scorers that the team has ready to step into their lineup with the possible exception of Gabriel Vilardi, who has been injured all season. There are other prospects, but the Kings need to start focusing on bringing in as much offensive talent to fix the team’s lack of speed and offensive woes.

Sunday: Despite the Flyers falling 5-1 to Vancouver Saturday and the road trip being completed, there has been no coaching changes made of yet, according to Philly.com’s Sam Carchidi. The scribe writes that while a coaching change MAY happen at some point, rumors that the team has hired Joel Quenneville are not accurate. Hakstol remains the coach in Philadelphia.

Saturday: While it likely wouldn’t come as any surprise, they Philadelphia Flyers may be ready to make a coaching change. The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor tweeted that he’s heard rumblings from key people that the Flyers may be ready to fire head coach Dave Hakstol after their road trip ends, which will be tonight after their game against Vancouver.

While Hakstol had an impressive coaching resume when he was hired back in 2015, that success hasn’t necessarily translated to the NHL. While he’s reached the playoffs twice on a rebuilding roster, the team has failed to get past the first round of the playoffs and the team has been abysmal in a season where many people felt the team was ready to compete for the top of their division. Instead, the Flyers have struggled this season, currently holding a record of 12-14-4, tied for last place in the Metropolitan Division.

The team’s struggles already cost the job of general manager Ron Hextall back on Nov. 26 and replaced soon after with new GM Chuck Fletcher, whose intention was to sit back and observe the team before making any changes. Hakstol’s chances are likely near an end, however, after the team’s recent losing streak as they have gone 3-7-3 in the last 13 games. That has included a recent string of tough losses, which started with a 7-1 loss to Winnipeg last Sunday, followed by a 6-5 overtime loss to Calgary in which the Flyers held a two-goal lead with 68 seconds left in the game and still lost. The team followed that up with a 4-1 loss Friday to Edmonton.

While the team seems to be waiting until after the road trip, that’s not too unusual. The Los Angeles Kings fired head coach John Stevens on Nov. 4 after the team pulled off a 4-1 victory over Columbus the day before, suggesting the team had already made up their mind about firing Stevens. The same could happen here. The Flyers are a team loaded with a core of top forwards, including Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, Nolan Patrick, James van Riemsdyk, Wayne Simmonds as well as top defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere and Ivan Provorov, but haven’t been able to put anything together. The team’s goaltending situation is a mess and likely to be one of Fletcher’s first acts as GM, to find a reliable netminder. Regardless, the team doesn’t seem to be responding to Hakstol at the moment.

As the holiday season approaches, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season heads past the one-quarter mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. Let’s take a look at what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Los Angeles Kings. Click here for the other articles in this series.

What are the Kings most thankful for?

With a victory Saturday over division-rival Vegas and having split four of their last eight games, Los Angeles has pushed its way out of 31st place in the NHL. While that’s not necessarily something to be thankful for, the veteran-laden Kings started so badly that they were last in the NHL by far. However, the team has shown slight improvements since the team fired John Stevens and replaced him with Willie Desjardins on Nov. 4, who has a 7-10 record so far with the team. While that’s nothing great, the team has picked up a few key wins such as on Saturday and can only hope that things will be getting better on a daily basis.

Who are the Kings most thankful for?

With all the goaltending injuries that the team has sustained this season as both Jonathan Quick and backup Jack Campbell have missed large chunks of the season already, the team’s goaltending hasn’t been that bad. The team has been right in the middle, ranked 15th in save percentage with a .903, which is impressive considering their issues. In fact, the always reliable Quick has been the weakest link for the team in goal this year as he has a 3.23 GAA and a .893 save percentage in nine appearances, although it’s likely he’s not playing at 100 percent.

The team should be impressed, however, with their success from their other goalies as Campbell fared quite well filling in for Quick initially before he went down with the same lower-body injury that Quick suffered. Campbell has posted a 2.33 GAA and a .923 save percentage in 13 games, while AHL prospect Calvin Petersen has fared equally as well with a 2.41 GAA and a .929 save percentage in nine games.

What would the Kings be even more thankful for?

Goal scoring. Team star Anze Kopitar, who is coming off a 35-goal, 92-point season last year, remains the team’s top scorer, but has just seven goals and 18 points — hardly numbers of a player who should be somewhere among the league leaders in scoring. In fact, the team’s lack of scoring can’t be placed on just one person as the entire team’s offense has been lethargic all season as other players including Jeff Carter, Dustin Brown and their big offseason acquisition Ilya Kovalchuk have all struggled this year. If Kopitar and some of the other veterans can pick up the pace a bit and start to show their value, the team could find the offense they need to move them from out of the bottom of the Pacific Division.

What should be on the Kings’ Holiday Wish List?

The team has brought in multiple youngsters to attempt to bring life to the team and while some of those players have had limited success such as Matt Luff, the Kings really need to shake up their roster and begin to reshape their franchise. While there have been plenty of rumors around about L.A. moving on from players like Jeff Carter or Tyler Toffoli, the team remains laden with multiple long-term deals that they are stuck with. If they can find any way to move one or two of them, they have to hope someone finds enough value in some of those veterans that they would be willing to take them off their hands.

When the Los Angeles Kings fired head coach John Stevens on November 4th, the team was 4-8-1 with a points percentage of .346. Since then, L.A. is 7-10-0 with a points percentage of .412. Despite the change behind the bench to Willie Desjardins and also the swap of Tanner Pearsonfor Carl Hagelin, not much has really changed for the Kings. As such, it’s no surprise that GM Rob Blake is still searching for another trade partner to shake up his roster.

The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the Kings are actively working the phones and are hoping to make another move ahead of the NHL’s holiday roster freeze, beginning on December 19th. That gives Blake ten days to put together another trade. A rumor emerged yesterday that the offensive struggles and hefty contract of Jeff Carter, who lacks any trade protection, could lead the Kings to move the former scoring star this season. However, Garrioch feels that Tyler Toffoliis the more likely name to move next, stating that L.A. is receiving plenty of interest in the young winger. Toffoli’s $4.6MM cap hit is only about $700K less than Carter’s, but expires at the end of next season, whereas the 33-year-old Carter has three years remaining after this season. On top of that, the 26-year-old Toffoli has only two less points than Carter thus far and has the relative youth to change his game on a new team and return to his previous 50-point pace of play. Carter may simply be slowing down and may not be able to make a similar post-trade adjustment. Blake is likely impartial when it comes to moving his disappointing forwards and is likely to get a better return for Toffoli, despite Carter’s name value.

In terms of finding a trade partner, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman hears that the market is active right now. Friedman relayed the opinion that the resolution of the William Nylandersituation in Toronto has re-ignited trade interest in other players across the league. In naming a number of teams reportedly looking to make a deal, Friedman not only names the Kings, but also a pair of potential matches in the Boston Bruins and Minnesota Wild. Both teams have strong rosters capable of competing for the Stanley Cup this season, but have run into struggles lately for one reason or another. Both Boston and Minnesota share a need for secondary scoring and have the intriguing young and fast forwards that L.A. would likely look for in return. The Bruins could move on from a Danton Heinenor Anders Bjorkto add Toffoli, while the Wild could part with Charlie Coyleor Joel Eriksson Ek. Other teams that would seem to be fits to add a Kings scoring forward include the Carolina Hurricanes, New York Islanders, or Philadelphia Flyers. If Garrioch’s report that Blake is eager to make a move before the Christmas break proves true, a deal involving these players and teams could be on the way soon.

After another humiliating loss last night, an 8-5 drubbing at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks, the pressure on the Boston Bruins has been ratcheted up even higher. The team is falling short of expectations so far this season due to a total lack of secondary scoring. While speaking on the topic, Sportsnet’s John Shannon reports that the team feels they have too many of the same style of player among their secondary scorer. Shannon is likely referring to young forwards Danton Heinenand Anders Bjork, who have both underwhelmed in middle-six roles, and potentially AHL options Trent Fredericand Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, as well as the possible similarities between veterans Joakim Nordstrom, Chris Wagner, Sean Kuraly, and Noel Acciari. Shannon states that the team is not happy and that a trade centered around one of their redundant forwards in exchange for an established young forward is likely coming soon.

Shannon also states that the Los Angeles Kings are not done making moves after firing head coach John Stevens. However, Shannon reports that the team is waiting to pull the trigger until their trade candidates can repair their market values. With the team struggling so severely to begin the campaign, the Kings would be trading the majority of their players while their stock is at its lowest. This is particularly true for the likes of struggling Tanner Pearsonand ineffective Kyle Clifford. Once L.A. can string together some strong outings and potentially see some improvement from Pearson, Clifford and other names out there like Alec Martinez, Jake Muzzin, and Tyler Toffoli, they should become active players on the trade market.

During the latest “Insider Trading” segment on TSN, Pierre LeBrun confirms that the Carolina Hurricanes are interested in more than just William Nylander. LeBrun says that the Hurricanes are worried about their scoring abilities and want to add a top-six scorer. Nylander is surely Carolina’s favored target, but they are looking elsewhere for help as well. The Hurricanes were recently rumored to be shopping young forward Valentin Zykovand, like the Bruins, may be looking to use his upside to swap for a more established young forward.

The Vancouver Canucks have exceeded expectations so far this season and are about to get even better. With 18 points in 15 games, the Canucks hold the second spot in the Pacific Division right now and are riding a three-game win streak. Yet, they have been without stalwart defenseman Chris Tanevfor the past five games and have had to find ways to earn points without his assistance. That ends tonight, as CapFriendly reports that Tanev has been activated from the injured reserve and should be active against the Detroit Red Wings this evening. With Alexander Edlerstill sidelined, Tanev should step right back into Vancouver’s ice time leader role and will try to improve upon his three total points so far in the campaign. Tanev’s return should be a major boost for the Canucks, who despite their relative success, are still among the bottom third of the league in points against and could use some more stability on the back end, the hallmark of Tanev’s game. To make room for Tanev, CapFriendly additionally notes that young Jalen Chatfield has been returned to the AHL’s Utica Comets. Chatfield, 22, is in his second pro season out of the OHL, but has yet to make his NHL debut.

Following the firing of John Stevens, hiring of Willie Desjardins, and other re-shuffling of the coaching staff, the Los Angeles Kings continue to make small changes to their operations. Today, GM Rob Blake came to terms on a consulting agreement with Hall of Fame player and former coach Adam Oates, the team announced. Oates, and his Oates Sports Group, currently provide skill evaluation and development services to individual players around the league and beyond. It will be business as usual for the company and their player clients, but now special services will be offered to the Kings. Los Angeles has dealt with speed and finesse issues for years now and this move signifies that they are willing to do whatever it takes to find the solution to those problems. They hope that Oates, who recorded 1420 points over his 19-year NHL career, can lend a major hand in the pursuit of a revamped offense under Desjardins.

In his latest 31 Thoughts article, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman writes that Dave Tippett has been a hotly rumored name on the NHL coaching market for a while now, with Friedman sounding somewhat surprised that he was not named as the replacement in L.A. or Chicago. When last we heard from the former Dallas Stars and Arizona Coyotes head coach, he had taken an advisory role with the potential Seattle expansion team. When Friedman reached out to Tippett recently for comment on the job market, he confirmed that he was happy with his current role and staying in Seattle. If Tippett really has been approached with coaching offers and has declined in favor of the status quo, that says a lot about his anticipated job with the Seattle expansion team. Tippett seems confident with his current allegiances, indicating that he is likely in line to be the franchise’s first head coach or perhaps even general manager.

The Los Angeles Kings fired head coach John Stevens and assistant coach Don Nachbaur Sunday and brought in two national team coaches in Willie Desjardins (Canada) and Marco Sturm (Germany). The Kings hope that the pair will be able to try and fix the mess surrounding the 4-8-1 franchise that had high expectations going into the season. Here are some reactions from the Kings as well as the journalists around the situation:

TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that the Kings had already made their decision to fire Stevens after their 5-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, as many wondered why the team opted to relieve the coach of his duties after the team picked up a 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday.

McKenzie adds that the interim tag suggests that if Desjardins and Sturm fare well behind the bench this year, the interim tag could be removed. However, if the team cannot turn the team completely around, the Kings will conduct a formal and extensive search for a new head coach after this season.

TSN’s Darren Dreger writes that Sturm would be a prime candidate for the Kings’ coaching job next year after years of solid coaching on the international level.

Los Angeles Times’ Helene Elliott reports that Stevens was well aware that his job security was in jeopardy and was always both classy and accommodating. He admitted last week that being on the hot seat was part of his job.

Sportsnet’s John Shannon writes that one of the biggest problems for Kings management was a real belief that the team had lost its passion. The team believes that Desjardins, Sturm and Dave Lowry who remains from the old regime can bring that passion back to the team. “We’re going to create a desire for these players to play well here,” general manager Rob Blake said (via Los Angeles Times’ Curtis Zupke).

Fox Sports Patrick O’Neal writes that Blake said a “complete level” of Kings needs to improve, suggesting that the GM isn’t happy with any player or any member within the organization at the moment.

For those looking for more information on Desjardins, The Athletic’s Eric Duhatschek (subscription required) wrote a in-depth piece on the coach before the Olympics in February when he was head coach of Team Canada, including how he got the job there in the first place. “I saw Willie’s teams play a lot last year scouting for Montreal,” said Sean Burke the general manager of the men’s Olympic team. “I was always impressed with how much he got out of his players. I looked at the group we were putting together and thought, ‘well that’s what we’re going to need here.’ We’re going to have a group, where the coach needs to get the most out of the guys – and there’s even more of that element to that in an Olympic event than there would be in an 82-game NHL season. If he can get it out of the NHL guys for 82 games, he can sure get it out of the guys during the Olympics.”

The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro (subscription required) notes that Desjardins was a top candidate to take the Dallas Stars job in April which eventually went to Jim Montgomery. However, Shapiro also profiled the coach before Dallas had made its final decision. The profile includes his resume as well as a breakdown of his coaching style.

FlamesNation reporter Ryan Pike reports that Nachbaur is considered to be a very respected coach with extensive WHL experience, but he hasn’t been able to translate those coaching talents to the NHL.

Fox Sports’ Jon Rosen writes that Desjardins had a tough assignment as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks which started in the 2014-15 season. The scribe writes that Vancouver didn’t have enough talent to be successful, but his coaching style at Medicine Hat in the WHL showed that he likes up-tempo teams that push play up the ice.

Sirius XM’s Nick Alberga writes that if Desjardins and Sturm don’t make a significant impact on the team, the next domino would likely be the team making trades to break up the team.